U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,767 (Schad) relates to an apparatus for producing molded plastic articles which is capable of simultaneously producing and cooling the plastic articles. The apparatus has a stationary mold half having at least one cavity, at least two mating mold portions, each having at least one core element, mounted to a movable carrier plate which aligns a first one of the mating mold portions with the stationary mold half and positions a second of the mating mold portions in a cooling position, a device for cooling the molded plastic article(s) when in the cooling position, and a device for moving the carrier plate along a first axis so that the aligned mold portion abuts the stationary mold half and the second mating mold portion simultaneously brings each plastic article(s) thereon into contact with the cooling device. The carrier plate is also rotatable about an axis parallel to the first axis to permit different ones of the mating mold portions to assume the aligned position during different molding cycles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,431 (Neter) discloses a rotary cooling station to be used in conjunction with a high output injection molding machine and a robot having a take-out plate. A high speed robot transfers warm preforms onto a separate rotary cooling station where they are retained and internally cooled by specialized cores. The preforms may also be simultaneously cooled from the outside to speed up the cooling rate and thus avoid the formation of crystallinity zones. Solutions for the retention and ejection of the cooled preforms are described. The rotary cooling station of the present invention may be used to cool molded articles made of a single material or multiple materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,244 (Chen) discloses a take-out device for use with a machine for injection molding plastic articles such as PET preforms. The take-out device has a plurality of cooling tubes that receive hot preforms from the molding machine, carry them to a position remote from the molds of the machine for cooling, and then eject the cooled preforms onto a conveyor or other handling apparatus. The preforms are retained within the cooling tubes by vacuum pressure, but are then ejected by positive air pressure. A retaining plate spaced slightly outwardly beyond the outer ends of the cooling tubes is shiftable into a closed position in which it momentarily blocks ejection of the preforms during the application positive air pressure, yet allows them to be dislodged slightly axially outwardly from the tubes. Such slight dislodging movement is inadequate to vent the air system to atmosphere such that sufficient dislodging air pressure remains in tubes where the preforms might otherwise tend to stick and resist ejection. After the momentary delay, the plate is shifted to an open position in which all of the dislodged preforms are freed to be pushed out of the tubes by the air pressure. Preferably, the retaining plate is provided with specially shaped holes having pass-through portions that become aligned with the tubes when the plate is in its open position, and smaller diameter blocking portions that become aligned with the tubes when the plate is in its closed position. The smaller diameter blocking portions exceed the diameter of the neck of the preforms but are smaller in diameter than the flanges of the preforms such that surface areas around the blocking portions overlie the flanges to block ejection of the preforms as they undergo their dislodging movement.
EP Pat. No. 1515829 (Unterlander) relates to a method and apparatus for cooling molded plastic articles after molding is finished. In particular, the disclosed invention relates to method and apparatus for a post mold cooling (“PMC”) device having at least two opposed faces. The method and apparatus are, according to the inventors, particularly well suited for cooling injection molded thermoplastic polyester polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”) preforms.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,591,975 (Kintzinger et al.) discloses a molded article picker for a post-mold device and a related method for the use of the molded article picker for handling a molded article. The molded article picker includes a floating element being configured to be movable between an extended position and a retracted position and biased in the extended position. Furthermore, the molded article picker comprises a pressure structure extending through the floating element. The floating element is cooperable with the molded article to define a substantially enclosed volume including the pressure structure. The pressure structure is configured such that by evacuating the substantially enclosed volume the molded article is sealed to the floating element and the floating element is drawn into the retracted position, thereby transferring the molded article to the molded article picker.